


Anthers

by AintMyBitch



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 14:35:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4628910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AintMyBitch/pseuds/AintMyBitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A man has surreal experiences in a forest at night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anthers

He emerged from the thick, blocky forest into a moonlit clearing. Here there was grass instead of crunchy, jabbing pine needles. And the grass was soft, wet with dew, and a shimmering blue-green hue. Like hair, it moved together, swaying one direction and then the next in synchronization. Almost like seaweed, made fluid by gentle waves of water. The moonlight made the grass glow, catching the dew drops so they glittered like diamonds. The clearing was soothing respite from the unforgiving forest he’d just trekked through, and he sat down. His bare legs touched cold water. He ran his calloused hands through the grass, dredging up more water droplets. In their wake, his hands left glowing blue trails. Confused, he looked closer. The earth beneath the grass was glowing blue wherever he touched it. He poked the dirt experimentally. An orb of blue light surfaced and the dirt began to glow. He laughed and did it again. More glowing. He thought perhaps it was a trick of the moonlight.  
Suddenly, the ground beneath him began to thrum. And then the whole clearing began to glow blue. The grass swirled and grew, encasing the man in walls of green. He reached out and touched the huge blades. They shuddered and sprang back from his touch. And then the moon went out. No more light from the sky shone down; all there was was blue glow illuminating the grass from below. The earth thrummed again and the grass swayed, and reached down and wrapped the man up. Huge dew drops splashed onto his face as the grass bent down towards him, running in rivulets down his cheeks and neck. He was lifted into the air by the grass and cradled, held tenderly in a cocoon. He could just barely feel it when the earth thrummed a third time, and then bright pink flowers blossomed up and down the blades of grass. The blades holding him blossomed as well, the fragrant flowers decorating his cocoon and some brushing his face and hands. They had long, extended anthers that were dusted with yellow pollen, and the petals were shot with flecks of red, almost as if they were bleeding. He touched a petal and then blood actually beaded on it, right on one of the veins of red. He swept up the blood with his finger and inspected it. Before his eyes, it disintegrated into his skin. Curious, he touched the anther. Yellow smoke began to seep out of the anther’s fold, pluming into the night air. He leaned in and inhaled the smoke. Then an odd sensation of sweetness and serenity fogged his head. The sensation lasted only a few seconds, as when he exhaled, it dispersed. The smoke blew out of his mouth, and from his nose and ears and even from his eyes. He shivered.  
The flower he’d been touching suddenly grew fruit, a strange, bulging red sphere. The man reached out and plucked it, and the flower died, shriveling up into a greyish-red wrinkled husk. He held the fruit for a moment, staring at his odd reflection in it’s shiny surface. Then he brought it to his mouth and bit into it. The skin popped easily and the inside was wet and meaty. Juice trickled down his chin, burning his skin as it went. He recoiled as he felt his teeth get hot. The juice that ran down his hand from the fruit burned as well. He dropped the fruit immediately, shaking off his hand. But the trails left by the juice were still burning, gouging canyons in his skin and sizzling like onions in oil. He brought his hand to his face and felt the deep gashes in his chin from juice. Then his tongue swept through his mouth and he let out a cry of shock. His teeth were all gone, deep holes in his gums where they used to be. Blood seeped past his lips and ran down his chin. He frantically pushed at his gums, trying to stanch the bleeding. But when he pressed his fingertips into the holes, they slipped inside. His skull sucked his fingers in, until they were knuckle-deep in his gums. He cried out again.  
Just then, a dew drop fell from the tip of a grass blade towering above him. It splashed onto his face. The water cooled the burning, steam rising from his sizzling skin. His fingers slid back out of his gums and he heard a ‘pop’, and then his teeth were back. The gouges in his hand and face filled back up. He sighed with relief.  
A dragonfly flitted by, wings bejewelled and glittering. The man held out his finger, and the dragonfly landed on it. It twitched its wings a few times. He noticed that its body was striped, alternating green and glowing blue. But then his vision clouded, and he squinted harder. No, its body was polka-dotted. No, it was all blue. No, all green. He rubbed his eyes frantically, but the clouds only worsened. Everything around him was foggy. Then the dragonfly flew up to his face, breaking through the haze and appearing in crystal-clear detail. Its eyes were massive green gems, and its body glowed blue from the inside. The man stared wide-eyed into its gaze, seeing himself in the deep glass eyes. Then green smoke began to seep from the seams of the dragonfly’s eyes, and it filled the man’s vision with nothing but green. He blinked, then closed his eyes tightly. He still saw green. He opened them as wide as they could go. He still saw green. With an exhale of green smoke, his head lolled backwards and he went to sleep.

When he awoke, it was morning. Sunlight shone down into the grass clearing, warming his face. He blinked, and could see again. The grass was a normal length. No blue glow emanated from the earth. The grass was not even wet. He had all his teeth. And he couldn’t see any dragonflies. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning. Then he stood and continued his walk through the forest.


End file.
